


Friday Night's Gonna Be Alright

by WandaHart



Series: Indiana Boys [2]
Category: Guns N' Roses
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Axl's Dad Sucks, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, First Kiss, M/M, Meeting the Parents, They Still Go By Bill and Jeff Here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaHart/pseuds/WandaHart
Summary: Not only was Bill worried about his parents meeting his boyfriend, but he was also insanely nervous about the possibility of being with Jeffrey for the night. He really didn’t know what Jeff thought tonight had in store. None of that mattered, of course, if Jeff didn’t meet his parent’s higher-than-high expectations.
Relationships: Axl Rose/Izzy Stradlin
Series: Indiana Boys [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582195
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Friday Night's Gonna Be Alright

**Author's Note:**

> This work can be seen as a continuation of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand (And Shit)" or as a standalone. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

"You look like a fish," Bill stated flatly, watching his boyfriend attempt to blow smoke rings. Jeff blew the rest of the smoke out of his mouth in a huff of laughter and gave Bill a look of mock hurt.

"You wound me, Bill Bailey," he sighed dramatically. He leaned his head onto Bill's shoulder and laced his fingers through Bill's with his free hand. He took another drag from his cigarette and tried to hide his smile as Bill's nose crinkled up from the close proximity of tobacco smoke. The pair sat cross-legged behind the school's bleachers, hidden away from the rest of the world. Jeff normally couldn't persuade Bill to ditch his classes but when Bill had spotted Jeff's lanky form beckoning to him from across the football field, he couldn't resist sneaking away from the rest of his gym class.

Bill glanced up at his newly-established boyfriend. After three weeks of awkward dates and tiptoeing around the subject, Jeff had finally asked Bill to be his boyfriend. Bill had been so excited he could only nod his head in fear of saying something stupid and ruining the moment. Bill let his mind wander back to that day. After Bill had expressed his agreement through vigorous head nodding, Jeff's face had broken into one of his rare, but truly beautiful, grins. Jeff had said something stupidly cool like _okay, sweet_ and had walked Bill to his next class like the whole thing was no big deal. Bill, on the other hand, had been practically shitting himself with happiness. This _was_ his first boyfriend after all.

"Hey, Earth to Bill," Jeff said, breaking Bill's train of thoughts, "You alright in there?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I just zoned out a little," Bill said, letting the memory drift away.

"S’okay. I was just asking if you wanted to come to my house on Saturday. We could listen to records and shit," Jeff looked away as he continued, "You could spend the night too if you wanted." A few seconds went by before either of them spoke.

"Oh, um," Bill stumbled over his words as he tried to collect his thoughts, "well, I have to go to church on Sunday morning, so I don't know-"

"Well, then stay the night on Friday," Jeff interrupted. He looked at Bill's nervous expression and his face softened. "You don't have to. I just meant that I wanted to spend more time with you. I hate only getting to see you in school and I don't want you to keep sneaking out to go on dates." Bill didn't talk much about his parents, but Jeffrey had a feeling they would not be too pleased if they ever caught Bill climbing out his bedroom window after dark to see him.

Bill picked at a loose thread on his bright red gym uniform as he mulled this over. As much as he wanted to go to Jeff's house and hang out with him, Bill knew his dad would never let him stay over at the house of someone he'd never met. And spending the night? Did that mean what Bill thought it meant? Bill would have to meet Jeff's mom and stay in Jeff's room. Would they have to share Jeff's bed? Just the thought of that made Bill's face heat up. Bill counted to ten before speaking.

"I can't," he mumbled softly. He caught the flash of disappointment in Jeff's eyes and quickly tried to explain. "I mean, I want to, believe me, but my dad won't let me. He's really strict like that. He'd make a big deal out of it and want to meet you first. It'd be easier if I just kept sneaking out y'know?" Jeff considered this for a moment. He definitely was not a parent's type of guy, but Bill was worth it, right? He stared Bill. Bill offered him a hesitant smile. _Right_.

"Okay," Jeff said.

"Okay?" Bill questioned. He was glad Jeff seemed to understand, but he had been expecting a little more of a fight from him.

"When can I meet your dad?" Jeff asked. Bill's eyes almost popped out of his head. That is not at all what Bill had been trying to set up. Jeff must have sensed Bill's opposition to the idea because he carried on quickly. "Bill, listen, if I meet your dad, we'll finally be able to be together more. I'll have to meet him eventually, right? I promise I'll be on my best behavior." Deep down, Bill knew Jeff was right. Bill couldn't continue to sneak out. He had almost gotten caught the last time he had snuck back into his room. He had crashed onto his floor with a bang after slithering through the window. His mother had woken up and Bill had thankfully been able to dive under the covers and come up with a quick lie about rolling off the bed.

"I guess I could ask him tonight and see what he says," Bill relented. Jeff offered Bill one his rare-but-truly-beautiful grin at this.

"You're not gonna regret this, babe. You'd be surprised, I actually clean up pretty well. I'll shower and everything."

Yeah, Bill had a feeling he would totally regret this.

****

That night, Bill watched as his dad stabbed at his roast beef. He wiped his clammy hands against his denim-clad thighs as he nervously prepared to ask his parents about sleeping over at Jeff's. Bill said a silent prayer to a god he didn't believe in that everything would go well. Bill cleared his throat and caught the attention of his parents as well as his younger brother and sister.

"Um, would it be alright if I spent the night at a friend's house on Friday night?" Bill held his breath as he watched his dad's reaction to his question. His dad remained silent for a moment and then another moment. His expressionless face made Bill question whether he had heard the question. "Dad?" Bill asked.

"Damn it, I'm thinking, Bill!" Mr. Bailey barked from across the table.

"Yes, sir," Bill responded meekly. Bill thought his father was mean and he hated the man. He turned to look at his mother. She lowered her head and would not meet his gaze. Bill thought his mother was not so mean, but he still hated her sometimes. Bill's siblings stayed silent and pretended to be interested in their mashed potatoes.

"Who is this 'friend' of yours, Bill?" Mr. Bailey asked, interrupting Bill's train of thoughts.

"His name is Jeff, sir," Bill said. At his father's blank stare, he continued. "Jeffrey Isbell. He goes to school with me."Bill's father chewed his food for a moment. Bill stared at the tablecloth and tried not to get impatient. After what felt like an eternity for Bill, Mr. Bailey finally spoke.

"I don't want you staying at some stranger’s house." And that was that. Mr. Bailey offered no more explanation and turned back once again to his food. Bill could feel himself becoming angry with his father but tried to keep himself in check. He knew that he would never be able to see Jeff if he started a fight with his father. Bill took a deep breath, counted to twenty-seven, and tried once more.

"Could we please have him over dinner before you decide for certain?" Bill knew that this was his last chance. He could see his father beginning to get irritated with him. Thankfully, Bill's mother decided to speak up.

"Oh, Stephen, that sounds like a nice idea, doesn't it?" her voice wavered with obvious fear of upsetting her husband, but she carried on, "Bill never has any friends over. It would be good for him." Bill shot his mom an appreciative look. She didn’t look at him. Mr. Bailey still didn't look happy, but he seemed done with discussing the matter any further.

"Fine. Have him come over for dinner on Friday. If I approve you can go to his house that night." Bill didn't know if he wanted to cry from relief or dread.

****

Friday came sooner that Bill would've liked, and he found himself on edge all day. Not only was Bill worried about his parents meeting his boyfriend, but he was also insanely nervous about the possibility of being with Jeffrey for the night. He really didn’t know what Jeff thought tonight had in store. None of that mattered, of course, if Jeff didn’t meet his parent’s higher-than-high expectations. Jeff had ditched school that day but had promised Bill in the morning he would be at the Bailey home that evening.

So now Bill was pacing his house like an animal in the zoo.

"Bill, dear, he's not supposed to be here for another twenty minutes," his mother called out from the kitchen, "why don't you come set the table? He'll never show up if you keep looking out the window like that. A watched pot never boils, y'know?"

"Yeah, Mom, I know," Bill grumbled. He peered out the living room window one last time to check for Jeff before heading into the kitchen to grab the silverware. As Bill was busy putting out napkins and utensils for Jeff and his family, a knock came from the front door.

"I'll get it!" Bill hollered, dropping the fork he was holding. It was too late though. His little sister, Amy, had already lept up and was opening the door by the time Bill could get to the front foyer. Bill could hear Amy greeting Jeff as he turned the corner and quickened his pace so he could usher Jeff away from his extremely annoying and extremely nosy little brat of a sister. Amy huffed as Bill led Jeff into the living room and instructed him to ignore her.

Bill's mother met them in the living room and curiously inspected Jeff. Bill did too. Jeffrey had definitely tried to clean up. He’d traded his dark, skin-tight jeans for a looser pair of light blue ones. They looked old and Bill assumed they probably were considering the frayed material at the ankles. He wore a simple black button down which, much to Bill's delight (well, really undelight, but for dinner with his family he was delighted) was buttoned up completely. He still wore his old, raggedy converse and his hair was still unruly as ever, but based on the fluffiness of it, it did appear to be newly washed. Overall, it was clear to Bill that Jeff had made an effort. Bill just hoped that his father felt the same way.

“You must be Jeffrey then,” Bill’s mother exclaimed. “It’s so nice to meet you. Bill’s never brought any friends over before.” Bill closed his eyes and counted to five. He yearned for death to take him.

“It’s nice to meet you, miss,” Jeff said, flashing a charming a smirk. “You have a lovely home. Thank you for having me over.” Bill’s mother flushed and smiled. Bill rolled his eyes at his mom and ushered Jeff toward the couch and away from the baby pictures hanging on the wall just to Jeff’s left. Amy sat on the floor, dressing her barbies.

“Amy, wouldn’t you rather play upstairs in your room,” Bill suggested, shooting the young girl a look.

“No.”

“Amy-,” Bill started. She ignored him and turned to Jeff.

“Can you hold this?” she interrupted. She placed a doll onto Jeff’s lap and turned away without waiting for a response. “Are you Bill’s friend?”

“Uh, yeah,” Izzy responded, examining the doll in his hands. She was dressed in nothing but pink high heels and a doctor’s coat. _Nice_. “Yes, I am.” Amy wrinkled her nose and stopped brushing her dolls hair.

“Why?” the girl asked. Jeff bit the inside of his cheek in attempt to keep from laughing and looked over at the annoyed red-head sitting beside him. Bill was too busy glaring at his sister to notice.

“Uh, well,” Jeff started. He didn’t really know how to answer. _Because your brother is hot in a weird adorable way?_ It just didn’t sound right.

Jeff didn’t have to answer though, because when he opened his mouth once again to speak, the sound of the front door unlocking and being opened cut through the house. Amy turned her attention away from Jeff and started to gather up her dolls. She plucked her doll out Jeff’s hands and headed upstairs and out of sight. Bill sat up straighter and scooted a good foot away from Jeff. Jeff started to get nervous about the man entering the living room.

“Oh, darling, your home early!” Bill’s mother said brightly as she exited the kitchen to greet Mr. Bailey. She wiped her hands nervously on a dish cloth and watched as her husband took notice of the stranger in their home. “Dear, this is Bill’s friend from school, Jeff. Remember how we thought it would be such a good idea to have him over for dinner?” Mr. Bailey just nodded. Jeff stood and offered a polite smile to Mr. Bailey.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. Thanks for having me over,” Jeff said, offering his hand out for Mr. Bailey to shake. Mr. Bailey eyed Jeff warily and hesitantly shook his hand. He didn’t say anything to Jeff, choosing instead to turn to his wife.

“Let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

****

Dinner had started off well enough with Bill’s mother making pleasant small talk with everyone. Jeff and the three Bailey children had all politely lied when asked about their days at school and Mr. Bailey seemed to be in a decent enough mood but, as expected, began to ask Jeff a plethora of questions ranging from polite interest to downright intrusive. Jeff seemed to have prepared answers for all of his questions though and answered each with a convincing smile. Mr. Bailey even laughed at one of Jeff’s cheesy one-liners. Bill was shocked. Everything was going better than he had even hoped for. He stopped bouncing his knee and tried to pay attention to Jeff and Mr. Bailey without making it obvious how infatuated he was with the prior and shocked he was by the latter.

Of course, as luck would have it, things didn’t last for long.

“So, Jeffrey, what church do you belong to?” Bill’s father asked, taking a sip from his whiskey glass. Bill normally despised his father’s drinking habit, but tonight he was rather thankful for the alcohol that seemed to have calmed his father’s typical agitation.

“Um, I-,” Jeff floundered, looking to Bill for help. “I don’t- um, I- my family doesn’t really do that.” Of-fucking-course Stephen had to ask that. There was no way Jeff would’ve been able to come up with a good answer for that. Bill had never even told him of his father’s obsession with religion and the church. Mr. Bailey continued on with mock patience.

“Your family doesn’t what? Believe in God?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at the poor boy with scrutiny.

Bill knew there wasn’t anything he could say to help his boyfriend out of this, so he instead chose to reach down under the table and find Jeff’s hand. He clasped it shakily and gave it a tight squeeze before releasing it. This seemed to awaken Jeff’s confidence and allow him to continue his façade.

“Oh, no, of course not!” Jeff replied, with regained charm. “My mother, she works long hours, so it’s hard to find time to go to church.”

_God, Jeff was brilliant. Crisis averted. Hopefully._

“Your mother will be home tonight though, right?” Mrs. Bailey cut in. At Jeff’s confirmation, Mrs. Bailey gave the dark-haired boy a weary-looking smile. “Well, I don’t see why it would be a problem for Bill to go home with you tonight. Stephen?” She turned her attention to her husband who had gone quiet.

Bill and Jeff both anxiously watched Mr. Bailey take another sip from his glass and mull the proposition over. He finally looked up and met Bill’s eyes.

“Be home by noon.”

****

“Holy fuck! I can’t believe their letting me go to your house! No offense, but I thought they’d hate you,” Bill gushed out as he and Jeff started their trek from the Bailey residence to the Isbell house. Jeff laughed and swung his arm around Bill’s shoulders, pulling him close.

“Nah, no one could resist me, babe. Your dad did kinda scare me though.” Bill blushed at the pet name, but quickly frowned upon the mention of his father. Why did that man have to ruin everything for him? Even when he wasn’t there.

“I hate him,” Bill stated coldly. Jeff glanced down at him, but Bill kept his gaze locked forward. “I hate him so much and I wish I never had to see his stupid fucking face ever again,” he continued bitterly. “I wish he would just leave. Leave and never come back.” Jeffrey didn’t say anything, but he wrapped his arm a little tighter around the younger boy’s shoulders and that was enough for Bill. Bill snuggled farther into Jeff’s side and breathed him in. Bill was usually so angry, but with Jeff everything seemed to calm down. It was a nice change.

As the pair approached Jeff’s home, Bill’s previous nerves returned. His mind whirred with all the ways he could potentially humiliate himself in front of Jeff and, _boy_ , were there a lot of ways. Bill had never even kissed anyone before. Unless he counted that time Kelly Marshall and he had haphazardly joined lips in the sixth grade. Bill didn’t really think that counted though. He was sure Jeff had probably done all types of things with plenty of girls _and_ boys. He’d probably even had sex. Just the thought of that made Bill’s stomach twist and face get all hot. _Oh god._

“Here we are,” Jeff announced needlessly as he led Bill up the front steps of his house. It was a small place with some obvious wear-and-tear, but Bill thought it just added to the charm of it all. Jeff unlocked the door and led Bill into the house and towards the stairs. As they passed the living room a female voice called out to them.

“Jeff?”

Jeff turned with a sigh to greet the woman who was only scarcely illuminated by the glow of the TV.

“Hey Ma,” he said with a small smile, “this is Bill. He’s staying the night.” Jeffrey’s mother only hummed in response and the boys proceeded their ascent up the stairs and into Jeff’s room.

Jeff plopped onto his bed and watched as Bill looked around his room. The walls were covered in posters of varying rock stars, some of whom Bill could name, most of whom he could not. There was a skateboard propped against the wall next Jeff’s bed and clothes, along with various bits of trash, covered a good portion of the floor. Bill spotted Jeffrey’s record collection and made his way over towards it to investigate. He flipped through the records and pulled out a familiar favorite.

“Can we listen to this?” Bill asked, turning to Jeff and waving Bowie’s _Aladdin Sane_ about.

“Sure,” Jeff agreed. He climbed off his bed and helped Bill put the record on. When the music started, he pulled Bill toward his bed and sat him down next to him.

They fell into comfortable silence as they listened to the record play. Jeff flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling as he listened to Bill hum along to the music. He turned his head to the side as he felt the bed dip slightly. Bill had joined him in laying horizontally across the bed, feet dangling off the side. They stayed that way, Bill with his eyes closed, humming, and Jeff simply watching him, until the first side of the record was over. Bill opened his eyes at the silence and smiled as he caught Jeff’s pretty brown eyes staring at him.

“See something you like?” he asked coyly. Jeff just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Are you gonna flip the record?” Bill asked, nudging Jeff. Jeff pretended to think the idea over in his head for a little bit. 

“Depends. What will I get in return?” he asked, his voice dropping ever-so-slightly. Bill swallowed hard and turned to look back up at Jeff’s ceiling. Now, Jeff wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure that Bill had never been kissed before. Judging by the fact that they hadn’t kissed so far, and that Bill had been seemingly oblivious to all of Jeff’s previous attempts to capture the other boy’s lips with his own. Either that or Bill just really didn’t want to kiss Jeff. Jeff seriously doubted that idea.

“Hey,” Jeff said, gently pulling Bill’s face in his direction. “Can I kiss you?” Bill bit his lip as he thought the proposal over. Jeff tried not to stare.

“Okay,” Bill said, hoping he appeared somewhat collected on the outside because inside his brain was going about a mile a minute. Jeff smiled in way that he hoped would calm the younger boy’s nerves and started to inch his face closer to Bill’s. Bill hesitantly did the same and squeezed his eyes shut tight when their lips were only a centimeter apart and _OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod Jeff was kissing him! Jeff was kissing him!_ The first few seconds of the kiss were tense and awkward for both boys but as Bill started to relax the kiss became more pleasurable. Jeff pulled away much too soon for Bill’s liking and Bill let out a huff of annoyance at the lost contact. Jeff smirked.

“I take it you liked it then?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Make me.”

And he did. Bill surged forward with newfound confidence and desire. After a small bump of noses and quick readjustment, they were back to blissfully kissing. Jeff led the kiss and progressed it as slow as possible as to not overwhelm Bill. He hesitantly ran his tongue across Bill’s bottom lip. Bill’s mouth parted slightly, and Jeff seized the opportunity to shove his tongue in the other boy’s mouth. Bill let out a somewhat-mortifying _mmpfh_ and Jeff had to pull away from laughter.

“Shut up!” Bill exclaimed, sitting up and hiding his burning face in his hands. “S’not funny. I’ve never done this before,” he admitted. Jeff sat up and pulled Bill into his chest. Stroking his hair back, he placed a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead.

“I know. Don’t worry about it. We’ll take it slow.”

Bill raised his head to look at Jeff. He smiled softly and pressed all his weight into Jeff’s chest, causing them both to fall backwards. Bill nuzzled down into Jeff’s chest and pressed his face into the crook of his neck. Jeff hesitantly wrapped his arms around the smaller boy now laying on top of him. He felt Bill press a small kiss to the side of his neck and smiled.

“You want me to flip the record?” he asked.

“No,” Bill mumbled into Jeff’s neck. “I just wanna stay like this.”


End file.
